Loving cycling! I'm 5'6, 156 lbs, and muscular (upper body) for a cyclist. I'm a former wide receiver (Wes Welker type build).
I'm guessing sprints would be my strengths. However based on my height/weight could I be a good climber or am I just too heavy (for my height)? What about TTs? I remember hearing somewhere that lighter weight guys get blown off the course pretty easily on windy days, implying a big more mass is ideal....but I really have no clue whether or not that is true.
I did a 10.1 mile personal TT in my neighborhood (I mapped the course about 8 times on various runner websites and I get anywhere from 10.0 flat to 10.1 miles. It's actually a 1.00 or 1.01 loop I just do 10 times. There's a 13 foot elevation gain from low point to high point. So I'm totally 130 feet of elevation over the 10 miles). There was a steady wind. I performed this on a (pretty crappy) $250 road bike weighing 31 lbs. My time was: 34 minutes on the nose. I know this is not very good and I do think I had more power in me...I'm still adjusting on pacing myself. I don't know how much time I could've shaved off if I had a "real" road bike, or even a TT bike with skin suit and aero helmet. I should also mention that I did not ride in the tuck. Not straight up either, though, torso at a 45 degree angle (more or less), hands resting on the top portion of the handles. I was never really breathing heavily out of my mouth in these 34 minutes except at the very end when I gunned it. I'm assuming if I could breath out of my nose, I was holding back???
Anyway I'd like to enter some local rec rides, but I'd like to know which discipline to focus on. I will always do some for of all 3, but I'm a competitor by nature, and I'd like to find which one I am best at so I can really focus on that.
Based on the above, what are your thoughts?
I'm kind of fascinated as to why some riders excel at one format but not at others. I don't know why but I find that pretty cool!
Thanks in advance
I'm guessing sprints would be my strengths. However based on my height/weight could I be a good climber or am I just too heavy (for my height)? What about TTs? I remember hearing somewhere that lighter weight guys get blown off the course pretty easily on windy days, implying a big more mass is ideal....but I really have no clue whether or not that is true.
I did a 10.1 mile personal TT in my neighborhood (I mapped the course about 8 times on various runner websites and I get anywhere from 10.0 flat to 10.1 miles. It's actually a 1.00 or 1.01 loop I just do 10 times. There's a 13 foot elevation gain from low point to high point. So I'm totally 130 feet of elevation over the 10 miles). There was a steady wind. I performed this on a (pretty crappy) $250 road bike weighing 31 lbs. My time was: 34 minutes on the nose. I know this is not very good and I do think I had more power in me...I'm still adjusting on pacing myself. I don't know how much time I could've shaved off if I had a "real" road bike, or even a TT bike with skin suit and aero helmet. I should also mention that I did not ride in the tuck. Not straight up either, though, torso at a 45 degree angle (more or less), hands resting on the top portion of the handles. I was never really breathing heavily out of my mouth in these 34 minutes except at the very end when I gunned it. I'm assuming if I could breath out of my nose, I was holding back???
Anyway I'd like to enter some local rec rides, but I'd like to know which discipline to focus on. I will always do some for of all 3, but I'm a competitor by nature, and I'd like to find which one I am best at so I can really focus on that.
Based on the above, what are your thoughts?
I'm kind of fascinated as to why some riders excel at one format but not at others. I don't know why but I find that pretty cool!
Thanks in advance